Bear School Astartes

”Come on, stand still... stand still...”

Cassandra drew the bowstring to her lips, murmuring softly.

Her eyes fixed sharply on the trunk of a tree within the harbor.

Strangely, her gaze seemed to focus on something beyond the trunk.

Compared to the strange performance, holding the bowstring taut for ten seconds without a breath seemed almost normal in her hands.

It seemed she had finally seen what she wanted to see.

”Ha! Got you!”

Cassandra softly released her fingers from the bowstring, the arrow quivering through the air, whistling as it flew.

With controlled technique, the arrow traced a curve in the air.

Though Cassandra faced the trunk directly, the arrow arced around it, embedding itself into the other side of the trunk.

With the sound of the arrowhead hitting flesh, there was a dull thud as something dropped to the ground, followed by silence.

In Cassandra’s vision, she clearly saw the scene beyond the trunk.

A giant barbarian soldier, muscular and fierce-looking, covered in thick body hair, clad in a breastplate made of two bronze plates held together, wielding a hammer as tall as half a person and as large as a head.

If an ordinary person saw such a figure on the street, they would be terrified with just a glance.

Now, however, this tall and fearsome warrior had an arrow that could be called ’slender’ for his size lodged in his neck.

Armor of this era often lacked neck protection.

A barbarian’s breastplate was merely two bronze plates connected by leather straps, worn front and back.

Cassandra’s arrow pierced the unprotected neck, pinning him against a wooden wall.

The arrow held the barbarian’s neck to the wall, and the gushing blood from the wound drained all the strength from his robust body.

His body ended up hanging crookedly on the wall, barely supported by the slender arrow!

His limbs still twitched with residual nerve impulses.

Cassandra didn’t spare him another glance, expertly sprinting and climbing...

Like a leopard, she reached the top of the tree trunk in two or three bounds.

Her breathing and movements became almost inaudible as she came to a halt.

”What happened over there?”

A voice inquired from the other side of the wooden wall.

Though the barbarian hadn’t uttered a scream or cry of pain to raise the alarm, the sound of the hammer hitting the ground and his limbs twitching was enough to prompt curiosity.

A man wearing Athenian Linen Armor but adorned with a Spartan-style crest helmet, holding a drawn Short Sword, cautiously circled around the wooden wall.

Cassandra had chosen a killing spot at a corner, forcing anyone coming to investigate to walk around the wall to see what had happened.

Just as the mixed-gear fellow rounded the corner...

”Squelch!”

Just like an eagle swooping down for prey!

The moment before, Cassandra was silent; the next moment, she leapt from the tree!

Her broken spearhead thrust downward with momentum into the man’s neck as she descended.

The sharp blade pierced through skin, muscle, breaking the collarbone and ribs, a sound so quick and forceful it melded into a chilling sensation.

It was like snapping a large, thick stalk of celery.

The spearhead entered from the base of his right shoulder and diagonally pierced through his chest cavity, emerging from under his left armpit.

Cassandra calmly pulled out the spearhead.

”Squelch!”

Blood spurted from the crude, ancient spear shaft as it was drawn from the chest cavity.

The opponent had stopped even twitching on the ground.

After finishing another silent kill, Cassandra easily dragged two bodies into the bushes outside the harbor.

She swapped for a new sword and a pair of bracers.

After holding back, this spree against the One-eyed People’s followers brought her great satisfaction in upgrading her gear.

Looting excellent equipment from enemies’ bodies and using it herself often made her hum in delight.

At the dock of the harbor, the One-eyed People’s roars and screams continued, suggesting the duo entertained each other for quite a while.

But Cassandra was already steadily pushing toward the dock.

The Adrestia was her hope to escape Cephalonia’s poverty and step into a new life.

Without this ship, she couldn’t breach the Athenian naval blockade to enter Megaliss or claim the Spartan Blood Wolf’s head and the Drachma promised by Erpinuo.

Just thinking about it quickened Cassandra’s steps.

She seemed to visualize the entire harbor’s layout and personnel placements.

She consistently evaded the patrols’ view, emerging silently from the shadows to deliver swift deaths.

As she advanced toward the dock, the harbor gradually descended into silence.

Her plan had always been to leave no survivors.

”Crunch!”

Cassandra came down from the sky, driving the spearhead through the cap-wearing foe’s skull!

The skull couldn’t withstand the spear’s force; the spearhead punched through to the jaw, emerging from it and leaving the man limp on the ground.

Cassandra habitually grasped the spearhead protruding from beneath the chin, twisting viciously aside.

Like turning a valve, the spearhead twisted the skull sideways at a ninety-degree angle, the neck vertebrae snapping dully.

Then Cassandra briskly withdrew the spearhead from the man’s skull, letting him collapse completely.

Another stealthy mid-air assassination, unnoticed by anyone.

Clean, silent... at least it should have been.

Yet, when Cassandra finished, she suddenly discovered a cage with wild wolves next to her position!

The wolves were somewhat trained, only baring teeth at her until the display of blood and brain matter aroused their instincts.

Its throat vibrated as its lips curled back, exposing its sharp teeth, about to howl.

Cassandra had no time to deal with the wolves.

In discomfort, she swore.

”Malaka! Icarus, didn’t you see this...”

But before Cassandra finished saying ’you didn’t see,’

A specialized projectile flew in from afar.

”Thud,” and blood burst from the wolf’s head, the howl caught in its throat.

Cassandra looked up, tracking the shot; fifty meters away on a slope, Lann lowered his left hand, gesturing a greeting to her.